‘I am not a fish’

A new collection of poems, published by Oversteps. ISBN 678-1-906856-37-3. Nominated for the 2013 T S Eliot Prize.

“A highly unusual book, with a rich collection of characters including Mr Coelacanth (who claims that he is not a fish), the Lamb of Tartary, the Old-man-of-the-woods and the reputed imputed man.” – Alwyn Marriage, publisher

“[Marie Marshall’s] new book of poems is out now, and it’s intriguing indeed! I’d assumed from the title this might be some kind of refutation of Vardaman’s famous declaration about his mother in As I Lay Dying, but that’s not remotely the case. Instead, it’s a kind of verse narrative full of oddball characters, like something out of a contemporary Chaucer or Castle Waiting. I was lucky enough to receive an early version of the manuscript, and though I’ve only browsed it so far, I’m utterly captivated by the concept. I can’t wait to read the whole thing.” – Samuel Snoek-Brown, author, editor, creative writing tutor.

“Marie Marshall is a poet of substance. Relatively speaking, I would place her at the level of the late Sylvia Plath. I am an Australian poet/editor and for years, I’ve had the greatest respect for the depth of talent in poems by Marie. Do read her work again and again.”Ron Wiseman, poet, editor, and publisher.

“… her poetry is poignant and of a rare beauty.”Lyz Russo, author and publisher.

“This book is unlike anything. A mellifluous mash of hilarious, playful poems, evading the reader whilst prodding with long boney digits of joy. There is alchemy between word & imagination, infused with hallucinatory & hypnotic substance, which sounds painful, but actually manifests in unparalleled, rib-tickling humour & a spectrum of idiosyncratic oddities.

There is something off-the-cuff in their childish, almost athletic inventiveness, the cardiovascular characters totally out of their minds & extremely entertaining; poems utterly impossible to anticipate, twisting & turning like a fish out of water.

If you were to take a bowler hat, write lines from Wind in the Willows, The Rig Veda, Aesop’s Fables, a collection of L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry, a book of puns & dirty jokes founded by Gershon Legman, put the Moebius Strip lines of poetry in the hat, shake that hat, then take those lines & knit them, then you might begin to rustle up poems as inimitably brilliant as the poems in this collection.”Daniel Paul Marshall, poet. Read his full review here.

What readers say:

“… I am smitten…”

“… a great read…”

“…Marie uses words that intrigue, make you want to know more and draw you into a world of surprising thoughts…”